{"id":33156,"date":"2023-07-05T04:03:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T18:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=33156"},"modified":"2023-10-20T17:24:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T06:24:25","slug":"palais-ideal-france-%f0%9f%87%ab%f0%9f%87%b7-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=33156","title":{"rendered":"Palais Id\u00e9al, France \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: 3rd July 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled: 120 kms from Hauterives to Saint-Agr\u00e8ve  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited: Palais Id\u00e9al, Hauterives  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed: Saint-Agr\u00e8ve Aire CC, free, N45.01020, E04.39310  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget: 42 days @ \u20ac93 per day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During Covid we watched a French movie titled Facteur Cheval, on World Movies from memory. Simply put it\u2019s based on the life of Ferdinand Cheval the local postman in the small village of Hauterives. From 1879 Cheval will spend 33 years building his Palais Id\u00e9al (or fairy castle), then another 8 years constructing the family crypt. Ostensively he starts the Palais for his daughter who later passes away at 15 but he continues on in her memory. Simply put his life is beset by tragedy and obsession. We loved the movie so we put a marker in our Google map just in case we were passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a noisy evening in Hauterives. There was a concert held at the Palais Id\u00e9al last night and Pam tells me there was lots of yelling and carrying on after mid-night but somehow I slept through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we\u2019ve come to this out of the way village, seemingly a long way from anywhere to visit the Palais Id\u00e9al, the postman\u2019s obsession. But Pam\u2019s keen for a walk first so we go off to explore the village of Hauterives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Whilst the village is neat and tidy it\u2019s relatively small, we walk here and there but only manage a few kms. The high point of our walk was spotting the sign to the cemetery and going down to view the Postman Cheval\u2019s family crypt pictured below. Cheval named it his \u2018 \u2018tomb of silence and endless rest\u2019 on completion in 1922, he was 86.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The village church and Memorial to General Miribel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The imposing Cheval family crypt follows his free flowing imagination <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Our morning walk done and breakfast complete we lock up and walk off the short distance to the Palais Id\u00e9al, pay our \u20ac9.50 pp entry fee and go in for a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s visually stunning yet confusing. It mixes a postman\u2019s dream of a palace with his perceptions of what a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque may look like as well as wild beasts and mythical animals he had never actually seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My words cannot do it justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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